Footwear & Related Fairs in Brazil: ILD AYMOD/AYSF IZMIR

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Turkey's footwear industry has developed at a rapid pace due to modern manufacturing processes, the availability of major quality raw materials, skilled workers and high design capacity. Today, the Turkish footwear industry has a strong position among exporters of high quality fashion goods. Another sign of positive development is the increase in foreign investments in the sector.

It is obvious that the footwear industry is extremely dependent on the level of the leather industry in the country. The Turkish leather sector, which has a history dating back 500 years, is becoming a leading center in the leather world. The Turkish leather industry, which occupies a prominent place in the Turkish economy, has been developing rapidly by combining both its technology and its historical background.

Initial efforts to modernize the leather industry began in the 70s but significant progress on a real industrial scale only began in the mid-80s. The sector has developed very quickly in recent years. At present, there are three organised leather industry zones in Turkey and wastewater treatment plants for these zones have been completed. In addition, eight organised leather industry zones are under construction. The sector produces according to international standards and is becoming more sensitive to health and the environment; 90 % of the production is based on health and environmental standards.

Leather is one of Turkey's leading export sectors. The export figures of the leather sector for 2002 were 643 million dollars.

FOOTWEAR PRODUCTION

The shoe industry, which began to appear as a small-size industry in 1950, is now a well-developed industry. Especially in the 1980s significant investments on machinery parks were made and now over 15 % of the sector has completed its industrialization process. In the sector about 70 % of the production is realized by semi-mechanized production processes and 15 % of production is almost hand-made.

The sector employs about 300,000 workers, 20,000 of these are employed in the industry, the rest work in semi-mechanized and/or hand- made shoe workshops.

Most of the companies are concentrated in Istanbul and Izmir, where there are almost 40,000 to 50,000 shoemaking companies. Almost 50 % of the total number of companies are active in Istanbul. Konya, Ankara, Gaziantep, Manisa and Denizli, Adana, Malatya and Çorum (Iskilip) are the other important shoe production centers.

The production capacity of the 33 leading companies in the sector is 328,100 pairs daily. In addition, there are many small and medium-size establishments in the sector.

Turkey's shoe production reached 153 million pairs in 2001. Almost 25 % of the production consists of leather shoes. Besides, there has been a rapid increase in the manufacture of plastic shoes and slippers.

The footwear sector relies on Turkish-made shoe production machinery as well as shoe parts. The share of the shoe parts industry in the total shoe industry production is around 5 %. Production is very diversified. 30 % of the production inputs are imported. The soles, the heels, casting molds and the welt of the shoes are exported. The shoe parts industry is localized in Izmir and the Aegean region, Konya, Gaziantep and mainly in Istanbul.

Military boots, work and safety shoes industries in Turkey have developed significantly in recent years. These sectors are producing according to international standards, and shoes with the CE mark are exported to European countries.

The footwear sector closely follows the latest trends in the fashion world. Turkish shoe companies prepare their own collections for every season according to fashion trends both in Turkey and in the world.

The industry is now concentrating its efforts on training and design . In this context, with the initiative of shoe industry, the Turkish Shoe Industry Research, Development and Education Foundation was established in 2001. In order to meet the lack of qualified personel in the shoe design, a new department of education, " The Shoe Design Department" has been opened at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, which offers two-year courses. In addition to these, various competitions are being organized in order to discover new talents in the field of design.

EXPORT

The Turkish shoe sector had an export value of 131 millions of dollars in the year 2002. The performance of the sector largely depends on exports. The sector, which has a registered share of 0.37 % in the total exports of Turkey, has an estimated share up to 10 % if shuttle trade figures could be included.

Till the recent years, the Russian Federation was the number one market for Turkish shoe exports. The volume of export to the Russian Federation reached its highest level of 116.8 millions of dollars in the year 1996. Following the years, export volume has fallen down to a level of 11 millions of dollars in 2002. At present, Saudi Arabia, Israel, France, Germany, Ukraine, Libya, The Netherlands, England and Poland are the other major markets for Turkish made shoes.

Shoes made with leather coated outer surface make 38.6 % of shoe exports, with a value of 50.7 million dollars in 2002. The second important group is made of rubber or plastic materials with an export value of 35 millions of dollars in 2002.

The Turkish shoe-manufacturing companies are in search of new markets and especially export possibilities to the West European countries. Therefore, the Turkish footwear sector takes part in the important international fairs and exhibitions abroad. GSD Shoe-Fair-Düsseldorf, Motexha Spring Fair-Dubai and Lineapella-Italy are the most attended ones.

As an important footwear exporting country, many fairs are held in Turkey in the footwear sector every year.

FOOTWEAR EXPORTS OF TURKEY BY COUNTRIES (1000 dollars )

Information Courtsey:
Dr. Sevim YALCIN
Head of Industry Department
Export Promotion Center of Turkey - IGEME
Mithatpasa Cad. No:60, 06420 Kizilay, Ankara, Turkey
Phone: (312) 417 22 23 Ext. Fax: (312) 417 22 33
Email: gulsevino@igeme.org.tr
Website: www.igeme.org.tr

Report Prepared by:
GULSEVIN ONUR

06.05.2003